Al Pike: Searching for answers in the death of a friend

When the Marshwood High School boys basketball team takes the court against Noble, junior guard Brady Dodge doesn't recognize faces.

The competitor in him only sees an opponent who must be subdued. Otherwise, emotions might get in the way of the ultimate goal.

Dodge has experienced both sides of the rivalry. He once played for Noble before transferring to Marshwood.

“It's weird playing Noble in general just because I use to go here,” he said after the Hawks' 63-51 win against the Knights Friday night in North Berwick, Maine, “but when it's game time you've got to push those things aside and play hard and try to beat them no matter what's going on outside the game.”

Ignoring a major distraction is a difficult task for a teen-ager trying to make sense of life, never mind death. The one face Dodge would give anything to see again is that of his best friend.

Collin Evans died Jan. 18, the same day Noble and Marshwood were scheduled to meet for the first time this season. He was 17.

Although the Noble players were aware of his death before they took the floor that night at Marshwood, Dodge was not.

He wasn't informed until after the game that Evans had committed suicide.

“It's very tough,” Dodge said. “It's the second time it's happened to the Noble community and with Marshwood losing Troy Pappas (a freshman football player at Bates College who died last October of injuries sustained in a fall down a dormitory stairwell) it's really been tough for this whole area and we've all had to come together. Me being more close to Collin than any of the three, it really hit me hard and hit some guys on the Noble team hard.

“After we played Noble the first time at Marshwood,” Dodge added, “I actually got together with a couple of my friends at Noble. It was good to get together and just talk about memories of him. The only way to get past this is to stick by the ones you love.”

To honor Collin's memory, family and friends wore blue during Friday night's game at Noble. Blue was Collin's favorite color.

According to Dodge, his eyes were blue and he was wearing a blue sweatshirt in one of the last pictures ever taken of him.

“I think the wearing of the blue was really special,” Dodge said. “I really liked that. I dedicated this night to Collin. I was very close to him growing up. I was friends with him ever since third grade. It was really good to see Andy and Val (Collin's parents) so they could see how much this community really misses him. I can't imagine what they must be going through.”

Collin Evans played football and basketball at Noble, and was a junior on the varsity basketball team. According to his obituary, he also enjoyed four-wheeling and snowboarding.

“Collin was a dear friend to all of us,” said Noble's Grayson Waterman. “He's been with us since fifth grade travel (team). We all played together. I was in kindergarten with him. I played Little League with him. It's really hard to know that your friend is not in the stands or on the bench with you. It's tough, but I think that we have played through it really well. We played really tough against teams. We never went away. Every game that we played and every point we scored was definitely for Collin.”

Friday night's game was an example of the team's resiliency. The Knights hung around against a playoff team before wilting in the fourth quarter.

The death of a player understandably took an emotional toll on his teammates as well as first-year Noble coach Kenny Kimber.

“All those kids took it personal,” he said, “and it hit me pretty hard too.”

The Knights' once-promising season ended with a nine-game losing streak.

“At first it was OK,” Kimber said, “but once everything was over and after it set in for a while I think mentally and physically they were drained from that. I think (Friday) against a rival team, I think we finally got a little more energy and could focus and play.”

Dodge and Waterman agree that Evans was the last person they expected to take his own life.

“He was such a happy kid,” Waterman said. “I don't think I ever saw him without a smile on his face. Me and him were always joking around in Town Square. He was always hanging out with kids. Nobody's ever going to know why he did what he did, but we're all going to miss him and we're going to hang onto the good memories and take strength out of that.”

“Kids that age can't really recognize the signs,” Kimber said. “They were all close. I have a big junior class and they grew up together so it definitely hit them pretty hard, especially after everything was over and kind of settled in a little bit.

“For 15- to 18-year-old kids to have to handle something like that is big,” Kimber added.

Dodge and Evans were not only longtime friends, but also longtime teammates. Those are the memories Dodge will cherish most.

“I just think about playing sports with him since like third grade,” he said. “He was a very athletic kid. I played baseball, football and basketball with him basically all my life. From third grade to freshman year before I transferred to Marshwood, me and Collin would hang out all the time. He'd be over my house almost every weekend.

“I try not to think about it too much,” Dodge said, “but when I'm alone and I sit down and think about it, it really hurts. Only time will help heal it.”

Dodge and Waterman are searching for answers where none may exist.

“Nobody saw it coming,” Dodge said. “I hadn't been as close to Collin the last few years. I still hung out with him. I actually hung out with him probably a couple months ago. We were still very close and we'd text every so often. Just him being my best friend all my life basically has made this very difficult and very sad.”

“I've lost sleep some nights,” Waterman said. “I think I slept one hour one night just thinking about what I could have done. We're never going to heal until we get some answers, which I just don't see happening. The only thing we can really do is hang on to the memories of Collin and progress forward.”

Al Pike is a staff sports writer for Foster's Daily Democrat and Foster's Sunday Citizen. He can be reached at 742-4455, ext. 5514, or at apike@fosters.com.

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